Last Updated: October 12, 2023
• An international operation has taken down Chipmixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service that allegedly laundered more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
• The operation involved national authorities in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland — with Europol’s support.
• Minh Quốc Nguyễn, 49, of Hanoi, Vietnam is charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering and identity theft and could face 40 years in prison if convicted.
International Operation Takes Down Crypto Mixer Chipmixer
An international operation has taken down Chipmixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service that allegedly laundered more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency. The operation involved national authorities in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Poland and Switzerland — with Europol’s support — taking down the infrastructure of the platform for its alleged involvement in money laundering activities and seizing four servers as well as 1909.4 bitcoins in 55 transactions (approx. EUR 44.2 million) and 7 TB of data.
Chipmixer Service
Chipmixer allowed users to make bitcoin (BTC) deposits which it “then mixed with other Chipmixer users’ bitcoin” making it difficult to trace the transactions as it primarily operated as a Tor hidden service to conceal the location of its servers and prevent seizure by law enforcement. Additionally, the service did not register with the U.S Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or collect any identifying information about its customers.
Minh Quốc Nguyễn Charges
Beginning in August 2017 Minh Quốc Nguyễn created and operated the online infrastructure used by Chipmixer as well as promoted their services online leading to him being charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering and identity theft that could result in him facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
U.S Federal Law Enforcement Seizure
U.S federal law enforcement seized two domains that directed users to the Chipmixer service along with one Github account while German Federal Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt) seized more than $46 million worth of cryptocurrencies from Chipmixers back-end servers during this takedown process
Conclusion
This coordinated international takedown lead by various law enforcement agencies successfully managed to take down Chipmixers darknet cryptocurrency ‘Mixing’ Service responsible for laundering over $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency ultimately leading to charges against Minch Quoc Nguyen who is facing up to 40 years imprisonment if convicted on charges related to running an unlicensed money transmitting business as well ass money laundering & identity theft .